Your Blogging Staff

Contributing to this blog:
- "Dave" is Dave Barry, who is a humor columnist and presidential contender.
- "judi" is Judi Smith, who is Dave's Research Department, as well as being interested in men.
- "Walter" is Walter, a bone from the penis of a walrus.

If that happened in Montana you would've heard 15 gunshots. Well, maybe less. They were in a straight line and sometimes you can get two with one shot. And then the sounds of pluckin'.
PLUCKIN', people. I said pluckin'.

ddd, the Eagles are up by 4, so folks are rapt/somnolent. MouseTown is a bit of an 'avoid' for locals, unless we want that experience of driving in Miami without the thongs and giant plastic chickens. Still, we may get out there and I'm sure there will be others.

Last week, as I was attending the elementary thanksgiving luncheon, I was paged by the middle school. Seems that the bullies have "upped the ante" by taking video of their harassing my son about d!ldo's and Lezbo action. THEN they posted it to Utube, with over 2000 hits since September 21.

My son, in jail tonight for hitting his little sister, is now journaling for an attorney.

My words to the principal and counselor, "un F###ing believable." They are so arrogant and unimpressed that there will be consequences, that it is posted online for all the world to see.

The pain in my son's eyes when we watched the video (thanks to ctprof for "capturing the moment") is beyond a mother's words. No wonder kids buy guns. They go to the "authority figures" as they are instructed to, and there is no justice or ramification. The bullied are literally and figuratively forced into a corner, where even a bunny rabbit can become dangerous.

And the only and last resort, is litigation, which I abhor. Sorry, El. Seriously. The schools are failing. This brilliant child, MINE, is nothing but a punching bag to a bunch of juveniles.

And I have to watch as he journals the endless torrent of abuse, and cries as he relives the pain and humiliation.... again.

And for no good reason. I'm sorry, but when there was capital punishment in the schools, sh!t didn't get this far outta control. Even if YOUR parents didn't care enough to control you - the principal did and had the guns to back it up.

Med, sorry for your troubles. May they be spammed. I have no use for 'educators' or what they have allowed our schools to become, especially in the big towns.

I suggest you access a podcast from Dennis Miller; I believe the final hour from 11/21/07. He made some interesting observations in response to a young caller.

Meanwhile, litigation is no answer...especially considering the state of the courts; if you're bringing it, get out of it and consider alternatives that may be more fruitful. Litigation ain't gonna help The Boy.

Ouch. I would go with Meanie.Med, I realize that at this point it will not be much comfort to you or your son, but you should be able to convince youtube to take that video down. It certainly sound like it should fall under "Gratuitous Violence."

Of course the school really should take responsibility for such things. and it really should take a lawyer to force them to get their act together. But alas, it probably will.

CJ-I'm as suprised as anyone that my Iggles are giving the Pats a game. Biggest betting underdog in pro history-24.5 points. Bigger spread than the expansion Buccaneers against the champion (home)Steelers in '76. Yet another reason I don't gamble.

CJ - I completely agree that litigation is not a reliable resource, but after "working with" the principal, the counselor, the district transportation director, and the bus company (sub contracted) for 3 years, I have not even been able to convince them to reassign the bus driver, that he is unable to drive AND control his passengers. And unfortunately, attorneys do have the ability to make folks uncomfortable enough to take action.

Meanie - the Principal watched the perpetrator "remove" the video at school. Unfortunately, he only removed it under the main screen name, not both. and that really doesn't "undo" the damage. The school wouldn't tell me 'who, what, when, where' of the punishment, but the two boys involved were both in class. Hence, they were not suspended as they should have been. imho.

I cannot even begin...... and have avoided thinking about it since tuesday, for obvious reasons.

It sounds positively lousy Med. There is no way to "undo" the damage after something like that. The best you can do is ensure it never happens again, to your son or to anyone else, and I'm sorry that the school won't take the measure to do that.

Med, it won't do any good, especially for The Boy. You want to get the attention of the bus driver and the principal? Run for the School Board.

Beyond that? The Boy will find out that school is just the first round and there are many rounds to come. Neither the bus driver, nor the principal could survive the later rounds, so people like that will hide in bureaucracies. If the District (or insurer) lose money over this, it won't likely impact either employee and only impact the taxpayers that have to pay for their uselessness.

Sorry to be debbie downer. I have blogged about his saga before, but it has never gone to this extreme.

And again, the litigious threat is merely a ploy to stoke the fires of change. I have already determined that he will not be attending that school district come HS... which is 6 months away. Their loss. How many geniuses/national merit/bullshit kudos students and opportunities do they have? -1. He only tested out at 99.6% on the Weschler IQ test. Missed .4% - slacker! Game on.

Med, I don't know or care how many people will think this is innapropriate because in this day and age you aren't supposed to talk like this but...get that kid in a boxing gym, get him trained, and then let him beat the piss outta that f*#&kin' bully.
That is all.

Both my kids had to deal with bullies when they were in middle school. I have to agree with blurk, although I was going to suggest 1)you find someone your boy could ride to school with (carpool), and 2)karate lessons. The girlduckling ended up with a brown belt, and learned some very nifty self-defense moves. It also increased her confidence level immensely. The boyduckling didn't get quite as far along, but he learned enough to help him deal with situations more effectively. Bullies don't usually bully those who can fight back.

No kidding Edgar. Sadly, the lovely gals on the cheer leading squad could probably tackle better than most of the Texans defensive line. As for the Broncos/Bears game, could somebody please tell me the exact moment when Rex Grossman went from being a combination of the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion into Joe Montana?

Thanks for the love and the gumballs. I emailed a letter to the District PHD Superintendent, so we'll see.

I, too, was "that kid." Which makes it even harder to deal with my son.. cuz I have to deal with his shit and MINE. But that still doesn't excuse the BS. If they would have reassigned the bus driver a year and a half ago, when I insisted, perhaps we wouldn't have this situation.

Thanks, Ducky, GMTA. I have him in wrestling, which has helped. Unfortunately (or maybe not), he is an anal, by the book, kinda guy who has heard administrators say that violence WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. When what they really meant was, "Don't get caught."

I just can't get over the arrogance, MUCH LESS THE LOOK ON MY KIDS' FACE, at Youtube. UnFuckingbelievable. My apologies.

So the official end of the Thanksgiving weekend comes not with a bang, but a Nietzsche reference. To be honest, I wasn't even aware that the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame linebacker was that noted of a philosopher? Although "Tastes Great!" is considered the most celebrated intellectual arguments against the "Less Filling" movement that pervaded the waning years of the 20th Century.

Public schooling started on the slippery slope towards anarchy when corporal punishment was outlawed in schools. One of my clients related an incident at her 16 yr old son's school where a 15 yr old boy had sex with a dog, filmed it on his cell phone and sent it to his peers at school. He supposedly did this because he felt he was unpopular and needed to do something the other boys would approve of in order to increase his popularity. To their credit, most of the other boys did not find the deed "cool".

On a much lighter note, yesterday was the annual Teddy Bear Run where all the bikers head for a particular venue with teddy bears to give to under-privilaged children. We had to go to the other side of Johannesburg for an appointment and it was great to see all the bikers on their hogs and superbikes, all dicked out in their gang colors with teddy bears on their backs. I've never seen so many bikes on the highway at one time. The tradition was started many years ago by the local chapter of the "Hell's Angels".